Life Without Max
by midnightfeather
Summary: Angel's ambition has become too much and the cost is Max's life. How will Fang cope? R&R please.
1. Chapter 1

NUDGE P.O.V.

Fang stared at Angel with barely concealed loathing in his eyes.

"You…I can't…" He tried to compose himself, and failed. "You killed her! I know you did!" he shot at Angel. His eyes gleamed with fury unlike anything she'd seen before. "She loved me, and I loved her. She loved all of us, and now she's gone, all because of you!" He'd moved closer to Angel as he shouted, and now he had her backed up against the cave wall.

"Fang…?" Angel whimpered. Her huge baby blue eyes glimmered with tears. Fang looked at her with disgust.

"Those innocent eyes can't save you now, Angel."

By now Fang was towering over a cowering Angel. I briefly considered stepping in before Fang lashed out – but Angel deserved it.

"Max was crazy. She was leading us into a suicide mission! I did what I could to save us!" Something inside Fang snapped.

"YOU KILLED YOUR OWN SISTER!" Fang grabbed Angel by her ragged shirt and dragged her outside. I followed meekly, not knowing what to do. "You have to leave, Angel. You broke up our family." Angel looked at me with desperation.

"You love me, Nudge…don't you?" I looked at my feet.

"You have to go, Angel, and never come back. Ever."

"I thought we were a family…" Fang stared at her with amazement.

"After all you've done, you still think that we have one? You destroyed us!" By this time all of us were crying, Fang sobbing. "I can't BELIEVE you!" I walked forward and pushed Fang out of the way before he hurt her. I looked deep into those shining eyes…and saw nothing, nothing that could save her.

"Go." I said with finality. Angel took a few steps backward.

"Iggy? Gazzy?" she whimpered. In answer, the two retreated back into the cave. Sighing, Angel turned her head away, tears dripping down her face as she walked to the edge of the cliff. She spread her pure white wings, now two separate pieces of tainted perfection and innocence. One last look saw Fang and I looking defiantly back at her – no pity or love showed in our expressions. Angel took off into the clear, blue sky and flew into the distance until she was only a small speck marring the perfect horizon.

FANG P.O.V.

What do you do when your life turns to shit? Apart from eating the entire tub of Sara Lee ice cream?

Talk to God.

Well, try to. As soon as Angel left I flew out of the cave…well… like a bat out of hell. I couldn't stand the flock's pitying looks and knowing grimaces. They knew nothing about what I was feeling, couldn't possibly understand. So I flew to the only place of solace I could think of – the local church. I walked up to the enormous polished mahogany doors and got a firm grip on handles, pulled with all my strength and was rewarded with a small crack and a very, very loud creak. I squeezed through (thankful of my small bones) and entered the dark and dusty building. My footsteps echoed through the silent church, resonating through the ancient stones. I was the only one there – if you don't count the priest. I paused halfway and folded into a pew. The priest was reverently blessing a cup and bowl on the alter. I'm not a religious person or anything, but the sense of calm and peace of the place settled my mind and heart.

It was here that I tried to contact God. Should I talk out loud? In my mind? I must have looked a little agitated cause the priest started to walk over to me.

"Son, you seem troubled. What can I help you with?"

"I'm going though a tough time, and I thought you guys could help me out."

"We can try," he replied gently. "Want to talk to me about it? I'm Father Ramon, by the way."

"Well…I want to ask…if…" I stumbled. Then I realized what, or rather who, I was here for. "Could you ask Him if he could look out for someone for me? Up there in heaven?"

"Yes, yes. Her name?"

"Max." Here goes. Father Ramon bent his head in prayer and I quickly followed.

"Father, we ask of you to guide Maximum Ride through her time with You and forgive her for her sins. Amen."

"Amen." The Father then pulled himself up and walked back to the alter, giving me some space.

"Have faith, my son" he called back. "Feel free to come by anytime." I sat quietly for a few moments, hoping that Max was ok up there. That she wasn't lonely, hungry or troubled like she was here, on Earth.

"I love you Max…" I murmured quietly, before silently making my way back to the wooden doors. I slipped out of the church and stood on the stairs. It wasn't until later that I wondered how Father Ramon knew Max's full name.


	2. Chapter 2

Without ScarletInk314 this story would not exist. THANKS!

NUDGE P.O.V.

Gazzy was pacing up and down the cave. Up and down, up and down. I think I'm getting motion sick.

"Gazzy! Sit down, for God's sake. You're making us all jumpy," I commented irritably.

"I just want Fang to be back. I'm worried about him, what with Max and all that."

"Still, pacing isn't exactly going to bring either of them home..." Gazzy's eyes teared up.

"Oh no, Gazzy...Gazzy, I didn't mean it. I'm so sorry...come here", I murmured. I pulled him into a hug, rocking him gently. It's been such a hard time for all of us – especially Gazzy, with Angel as person non grata.

"Nudge…I miss her…" Gazzy cried into my shoulder. We both knew he meant Angel. Even though she had been wrong in her actions, her ideas were spot on – Max had been crazy. Her powers and responsibility had gone to her head and she would have gotten us all killed if Angel hadn't stepped in as leader. Max would have sent us all in to rescue Ella, even though we knew she didn't need our help. She betrayed all of us, going to work with Itex. Sometimes I can't believe that we took her in as our own when she was so obviously disgusted with who we are.

At that moment, Iggy arrived home, jolting me out of my thoughts.

"I couldn't find him. No need to worry, I'm sure he's just holed up until the storm is over", he commented with false cheer. "He'll be home soon." Gazzy shuffled out of my grip, sniffling and wiping his nose on his sleeve.

"Gazzy…" Iggy sighed.

"I'm not crying, okay? I've got a cold," Gazzy mumbled, aware that the excuse was bad, and with that retreated further into the cave. Iggy looked pained.

"I'll go."

"No, leave him," I remarked. "He just needs space." The only thing good about this freakin' damp, dark, dripping cave in the middle of nowhere is the privacy. There are dozens of nooks and crannies in which to hide – Max would have loved them. It still hurts when I have to use past tense when referring to her. Iggy seemed to be following the same train of thought as me, because he collapsed on the ground across from me, suddenly looking old and tired.

"What are we going to do, Nudge? We can't hang around California for the rest of our lives."

"I'm thinking, okay? We can't just pack up and leave. Max is here, and so is Fang…" I looked up as I heard something land outside.

Well, speak of the devil.

"Nudge. Iggy." Fang acknowledged stiffly, with a tip of his head.

"Where the hell have you been? You scared the living crap out of me!" I yelled at him. His expression remained blank.

"I visited the local church. It was quite enlightening."

"I'LL FREAKING ENLIGHTEN YOU!"

"Jeez, fine. I shouldn't have wandered off. I'm sorry. Better?" The sarcasm and bitterness in Fang's voice was evident. Without waiting for an answer, he stalked deeper into the cave. I try to share a look with Iggy…then realise and pat his hand instead.

"We need to do something about this, and no, before you ask, chocolate isn't the answer."

"What can we do? We've tried everything!"

"We create a mission for the Flock."

A pause.

"Or what's left of it." he corrects.


	3. Chapter 3

Warning - this is just a chapter for fun. Don't worry, teenage angst will be back in Chapter 4.

Again, a special thanks to ScarletInk314 who edited this work. :) THANKS!

* * *

When I say that I want to get the flock together in a small, enclosed space to talk about their feelings you may not believe that I will survive to see another day. You may faint, or run away screaming for fear of perishing under the pressure of Iggy confessing his obsession for M&M's or Fang crying over his new Cantonese drama. But thanks to Iggy's newly discovered skill getting things rolling is not as hard as it may seem.

"Iggy, you know what to do." I say. Iggy sucks in a huge lungful of air and I cover my ears from the oncoming assault.

"FAMILY MEETING! FAMILY MEETING!" Iggy bellows at what sounds like a million decibels a second. The walls shake and dust falls from the ceiling, the sound is utterly awesome...I wouldn't be surprised if an undiscovered tribe in Africa heard him. It seems like a lifetime before the echoes dissipate but as they do I tentatively uncover my ears, wincing.

"…" Iggy says.

"What?"

"…" Iggy repeats.

"WHAT?" Iggy sighs. He points to the depths of the cave and motions two chickens crossing a road.

"WHAT?" Iggy sighs again and gives up, sitting down next to me. Fine. Jeez.

After a few moments Gazzy sprints into the area, panting and sweating. He collapses next to Iggy, hyperventilating and twitching with adrenaline.

"Here…under 30 seconds…please…not again" he manages to spit out. Oh, hey. I heard that! Guess my hearing's back, then. I hear staggering footsteps coming towards us as Fang appears. He also seems to have had a heart attack. He drops onto the floor next to us, eyes glazed over and completely motionless. Iggy pokes him and he groans – oh, good, he's still alive.

"Lets get this party started!" I declare excitedly. I am met with a chorus of moans, groans and halfhearted coughs.

"Let us recover…please…" begs Fang and Gazzy.

"Fine. 10 minutes". Now, as we all know, time is money. So while the flock are starting their hearts again I will tell you what the hell just happened…in a nutshell.

As I mentioned beforehand, Iggy can be loud. And when I say loud, I don't mean plain old regular loud. I'm talking "bring the house down" loud. Shattering eardrums loud. Extended psychological trauma loud. Anyway, you get the picture. So lets put ourselves in…Fang's place, for example. You are sitting in a dark, damp corner sulking about your teenage angst. Suddenly the world appears to be ending. Shock waves wrack your body and your eardrums throb in protest. Every cell in your body is shaking in the aftermath of the loud call for a "HOUSE MEETING". The only objective in your life at that moment is to get to that meeting. So what do you do? You run, obviously.

The flock has been subjected to this many times and so far the effectiveness has hardly worn off. If you don't get to the place suggested in less than 30 seconds, Iggy does it again. More than enough motivation. But don't worry; any damage is not permanent as our mutant bird kid eardrums can withstand 10 times that amount of pressure. But for any other creatures that happen to be around...well…let's not go there. In any case, now you understand how our Flock House Meeting 2.0 came to be.


End file.
